The Palmetto Runner

Well, after three months off, I’m pretty sure I’m out-of-shape again.  But let’s take a look at today’s run and see how I did.

I’m In-Shape:  I ran the first mile in under 9 minutes.
I’m Out-of-Shape:  I ran the next two well over 10 minutes.

I’m In-Shape:  I felt pretty strong during the run.
I’m Out-of-Shape: My feet hurt like heck when I got home.

I’m In-Shape:  I ran the McDaniel hill.
I’m Out-of-Shape: I stopped to walk during a 5K.

I’m In-Shape: I did make it in under 30 minutes.
I’m Out-of-Shape:  Most of it was in Zone 4 of my heart rate monitor.

I’m In-Shape:  My heart rate dropped quickly when I stopped to walk.
I’m Out-of-Shape:  My heart rate hit 200 at one point jogging up the hill.

I’m In-Shape:  I ran 3.1 miles.
I’m Out-of-Shape:  I only ran 3.1 miles.

I’m In-Shape: My mind told me how great I felt.
I’m Out-of-Shape:  My lungs told me to stop abusing them.

The verdict?  I’m out of shape.  But I’m still a new enough runner to remember those first runs back in 2005, when I felt like I was going to die.  A fast run for me was 11 minute miles, and I would run 2 miles and be proud.  I’m not THAT out of shape, but I have some work to do, for sure.

Well, my “break” from running lasted a couple of weeks longer than I expected.  I wrote that post back when I was psyched about starting again, but then just screwed up by forgetting that I was going to Paris for a week.

Let me say this, with all due respect to my friends Steve Runner and Adam Tinkoff, I hate running on vacation.  I think I’m missing something if I’m in a strange city and not visiting the sights.  If I’m visiting a relative, or in a familiar vacation spot, I’ll run.  In Paris?  No.

That said, I got back from Paris and called my on-again, off-again running coach.  I need to set goals.  That’s what I’m working on tonight.  I’ll post something on goals later.

I did run 3.1 miles today.  Not too shabby.  Finished under 29 minutes, which was good, but I really didn’t feel like myself.

So today really marked my first day back.  I’m ready and I’m willing.

Till tomorrow!

… with apologies to Friends …

I’m sorry running, but we’ve been on a break.

OK, I know it’s probably breaking some blogging law to put a New Balance commercial, but we all know, deep down, that they speak to runners pretty intimately.

Why was I on a break from running?  Plainly, I was exhausted after finishing the Goofy Challenge back in January.   It was the toughest thing I’ve ever attempted in my running life, and I needed some time off.  I tried to go back two weeks later, but my knees hurt, my body ached, and I just didn’t have any desire to get out the door.

Plus, it was cold, and I hate running in the cold.

I couldn’t bring myself to pick out a next race.  I just stopped caring.  Which is really funny when you realize how much time and effort you put in to training.  That commitment really can just END.

So I stopped.  I stopped running.

I stopped blogging about running.  I stopped reading my monthly copies of Runners World, which I usually consume in about 90 minutes after it comes in the door.  I even stopped listening to the Runners Roundtable, the Running to Disney, the Extra Mile, and even (*GASP*) Phedippidations.  I stopped reading my favorite running blogs (Coffee Betsy, Toni’s Blog, Marci Runs the Marathon, Running with Coffee, etc.)  I stopped posting any of my occasional workouts to my Buckeye Outdoors online training log.

I took 10 weeks off.  That was longer than I thought I would, but I told myself that I would listen to my body and start again when I cared, when I missed it, and when my body told me to get out the door.

Then I felt it.  One day, I started to feel a little guilty about not running.  It was sunny.  It was a fairly warm winter day that was followed by a week in the 70s.  I ran my favorite route — the 5 mile route through downtown Greenville and the Falls Park.  It was pretty rough, but I really enjoyed it.

Then I started thinking about races.  I framed my Goofy medal, bibs, and photos from the Goofy Challenge.  I remembered how great I felt following that race.  I really missed running.  I missed the 30, 40, or 50 minutes of just me in my head.  I missed the exhausted feeling.

Two or three weeks ago, I started ramping up again.  I began running three days a week, started going back to D1 regularly for my total body fitness work, and started looking at my eating again.

I caught back up with my Runners Worlds, I’m catching up with back Phedippidations podcasts, and I’m piecing together a new training plan and race schedule.

Last week, I ran about 10 miles, but I did two D1 workouts (I’ll post a typical workout soon) and took a yoga class.  I’ll do about the same this week, but I want to extend my mileage this week.

So, the long and longer of it is: I’m back, I’m diving back into running, and back into the online running community.  See you all on the road!

OK, it might not be this bad, but this is my Week of Eating Dangerously.

I earned it, right?  I mean, I did run 39.3 miles last weekend, and I do watch my diet pretty closely.  This is a nice reward.  It also subdues all of the desires I have to eat like this on a normal basis.

So what have I eaten this week?

3 burgers (I rarely eat red meat)
Lots of cheese
Pizza
Chick-fil-A club sandwich
A few pasta dishes
A giant plate of cheap Mexican food
Deep-fried macaroni and cheese (coming tonight)
My fair share of beer

OK, so I didn’t eat 30 days of McDonalds, but this is a bad week of eating for me.   And I haven’t worked out a lick.  I thought about hitting the exercise bike today, but didn’t bother.  I might go tomorrow and bike for a few days this coming week to get my legs moving again.  We’ll see.

I might put the Cooper River Bridge Run on my schedule for this year, but it’s still a bit early to tell.  I’m posting my “tentative” races on the left sidebar.  I’ll start finalizing some of these in the next few weeks, when I come up with a plan for 2009.

One more night of eating dangerously before I go back to my normal diet tomorrow.  What’ll it be?  The fried mac-n-cheese is definitely calling my name…

UPDATE: I wussed out at Chicora Alley.  I ordered the black bean veggie Mideast burger (cucumbers, hummus, burger, mixed greens, and pico on a toasted pita).  I did order the fried mac-n-cheese and got sweet potato fries.  Oh well.  I couldn’t pass up my “usual.”

It’s taken me a few days, but I’ve finally gotten around to writing my race report from the Disney Marathon.

Correction, the Disney Goofy Challenge.

The first half (or third) of the race report can be found here.

I slept a lot longer for the marathon than I did for the half.  My cousin Jeff was nice enough to wake up early and drive us to within sight of the start line, so I slept until 4:30.  I slept for every minute of it, too.  I was exhausted after the half marathon.

After the half, I ate pretty much everything in sight.  Had a big pasta dinner.  Had a pizza for lunch.  Drank one beer.   The biggest thing I was worried about for the final 26.2 miles was hitting the wall at 14 or 15 miles (instead of the usual 20 to 22 miles).

The start was just like last year.  Fantastic start with fireworks and a decent amount of entertainment.  Nicole (my cousin’s wife) and Astrid (her sister) lined up with me — Nicole wearing her  Buzz Lightyear hands and Astrid wearing giant three-fingered Mickey Mouse hands.  The weather was just about perfect.  They wore the mylar blankets to stay warm.  I donned a garbage bag.

Meanwhile a motley crew of spectators including my cousin my wife, and another one of  Nicole’s sisters started bopping around Epcot and the Magic Kingdom to cheer us on!

My legs felt tired, but I kept up a pretty good pace for the first few miles — I finished the first five miles in 51:51. Between the adrenaline of the first few miles and the short run through Epcot, it’s fairly easy to keep going at the beginning.

Then you get on the roads between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.  Like I wrote after the half, it’s a tough slog — especially when you ran 13.1 the day before.

At the 10 mile mark, we’re heading into the Magic Kingdom.  Saw my wife and cousin just outside… that was a huge pick-me-up.  I finished the first 10 miles in 1:42:54, a 10:17 pace, and faster than I ran the first five miles.

That put me on a 4:29 pace for the marathon.  My PR was only 4:27.  I didn’t think I could keep that up, but my strategy was to run hard and just survive after I ran out of gas.

This is when I knowingly slowed down.  I whipped out my disposable camera and got photos with all sorts of characters. (I’ll post those photos soon.)  Alice, the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree, Mickey and Goofy, Capt. Jack Sparrow.

I saw my wife and cousin again at about mile 12.  By this point, I had passed Nicole, but Astrid had passed me somewhere.  It was good for one last pick-me-up since I wouldn’t see them again until the finish.

I finished the half in 2:18:06 — nine minutes faster than I did the day before.   I was pretty shocked, to be honest.  I did stop and get a photo with Mary Poppins before the trek to Animal Kingdom.

The road between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom is really tough.  There are a few golf courses, the Disney sewage treatment plant, and a variety of just boring, 2-lane road.

Outside Animal Kingdom, the Disney employees had a number of petting zoo animals out for photos.  I didn’t stop for some reason, even though there was  a tortoise, and my wife loves tortoises.  Running through Animal Kingdom is a great treat after the long 5 miles between the parks.

After Animal Kingdom, it started to get warm, but that was OK since I felt cold for most of the first 8-9 miles.  It had been warm in Greenville for a few weeks, so I got a number of 65-70 degree training runs in.  I hope my body remembered.

The 18 mile mark is just outside the Animal Kingdom parking lot.  I crossed Mile 20 in 3:33:15 — now on a 4:39 pace, but way below my 5-hour goal time.  Something surprising was happening.  I still felt strong.  No sign of the wall.

The next few miles are a dreadful out-and-back before making your way into Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios).  By the time I made it to the park, it was open, so there were people cheering along the paths.  I stopped for a few more photos, this time with the Power Rangers and the Incredibles.

From there, the sun started to get really warm, but I was still sticking to my 9-minutes running, 1-minute walking schedule.  I took a few other short walk breaks if a water stop came during the 9-minute run sessions.  I still felt strong.  At this point last year, I was wasted and doing much more walking than running.

The crowds along the Boardwalk were really great.  And thank goodness, too because it’s miles 21-24 when you’re running past them.  Then it was into Epcot, around the World Showcase, past the gospel choir, and to the finish line!

I didn’t see my wife and cousin at the finish, though apparently I looked right at them.  I dug down and found every last bit of energy to sprint to the finish line.

My finish?  4:39:57.  Only 12 minutes slower than my PR.

No wall.  I even had enough strength to go to Animal Kingdom a bit later (after a lunch of a bacon cheeseburger and beer).

Astrid came in about 15 minutes before me.  Nicole about 20 minutes after me.  I just couldn’t believe I made it.  I screamed as I crossed the finish line, which is something I have never done before.

That’s the bulk of the race.  The one feeling I had throughout was a notion that I couldn’t believe I was doing it, and that I felt so great doing it.  Amazing.

I’ll post two more things about this race in the next few days.  One will be photos.  The other will be a final thank you to everyone who donated to my Homes for our Troops fundraising campaign.   Those heroes are the real reason I did this ridiculous race.  And it’s amazing how generous everyone was.

Run long, friends.  I’m taking a few weeks off.

To the folks from the Runners Round Table.

I said I would have my race report up tonight, but I work in the South Carolina General Assembly, and when I said that, I forgot tonight was the State of the State address… so I’m stuck at the State House.  I’ll post something later tonight or Thursday morning!  Please check back!

Run on Friends!

I’m on the Runners Round Table live right now!

www.runnersroundtable.com

I have received so many e-mails and comments that I just wanted to tell everyone that I successfully finished the Goofy Challenge!I ran the half marathon in 2:26, and finished the marathon yesterday in 4:39.  Both were well under my goal times.

Today, I can walk — surprisingly.

I’ll write a detailed race report tonight or tomorrow, but I thought I would drop this little note to everyone so you would have an update.

Thank you for the messages and the encouragement.  Now, I’m going to take a well-deserved rest from running for several weeks.

No photo at the top of this, since I took a good, old-fashioned film camera with me during the race today.

Note to future Disney runners: DON’T BELIEVE THE 4 am time that the organizers tell you!  There is absolutely no need to be there that early.

That said, my wife and I were staying at the Port Orleans Riverside resort — just a short .5-mile walk to the start line.  When we got to the front of the hotel, a bus for runners was sitting there, so we decided “what the heck!” and took it to the start.  The walk from the bus stop to the start line was two or three times as far as the walk from our hotel, and it was in the upper 40s this morning.

My goal for this race, as I’ve written before, was a 2:30 finish.  I wanted to do 2:30 for the half and 5:00 for the full.  I’d really like to finish faster than I did during my first half (2:27) and my first full (4:40), so both were reachable goals.

Disney has a fantastic set-up.  It’s truly first-class (minus a dearth of free schwag at the expo).  My wife and I trailed behind the crowd and got to our corral at about 5:35, when the national anthem was playing.  (Note to future Disney participants: you don’t have to be in the corral at 4:30, like the race organizers tell you.  If you do, you’ll be there by yourself.  I made that mistake last year.)

The fireworks shot off and away we went… 13.1 miles to go!  Given my goal, my wife and I were going to run a 9-1 Galloway-style race, which I figured would help me finish both races pretty strong.  We started with that strategy from Mile 1 and kept it going throughout.

It’s great to have the adrenaline and crowds during the first few miles, because they’re lonely roads.  Disney does a good job with marching bands, cheerleaders, DJs, etc. throughout.  But as anyone who’s run a rock-n-roll marathon knows, the music is good for 30 seconds and then you have nothing for 7-8 more minutes.

We made it strong, but a bit behind our pace, to Miles 3 and 4, and saw my cousins (who I’m running the marathon with tomorrow) at Mile 4 for a brief cheer!  Then it was into the Magic Kingdom.

For all of the lonely running between the parks, the short mile or so inside the Magic Kindgom is really, well, magical.  You come in through a “backstage” alley and curve on to Main Street USA, with Cinderella’s Castle bathed in purple light and crowds lining the street, cheering you in a complete tunnel of noise.

This is where we started to lose some time, because, hey, we were carrying a camera… why not get some photos with characters!  So we stopped.  One photo of the two of us with the castle in the background.  A photo with Chip and Dale, a photo with Piglet, a photo with Cinderella’s stepmother and evil step-sisters, a photo with the cast of Toy Story… we skipped the photo with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in the colonial outfits, but the line was too long and my wife was still banking on a PR.

From the Magic Kingdom, you run through a backlot and then past the golf courses, the Grand Floridian hotel, and on through the entrance roads back to EPCOT.  The people along here are sparse at times, but pretty enthusiastic, since they know you need the support.  The exception is at Mile 8, where the folks you saw you at Mile 4 can simply walk across a parking lot and cheer for you again (my cousins included).

That’s where the wheels fell off for my wife.  She’s prone to some pretty severe knee pain (a legacy of high school and college years of lacrosse and field hockey) but she kept up with me on a 12-mile long run a few weeks earlier, at a 10:30 pace, so we figured she’d be fine.

We were wrong.

For my part, I felt strong and great.  I slowed, trying to pace her at a 10:00 pace, which at that point still would have gotten us in at 2:17.  A little fast for my goal, but close to a PR for her.  (We thought… we later found out that her half PR was 2:15, but she’d forgotten that little fact.)

The run from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT was full of fits and starts.  We started walking every 5 or 6 minutes instead of every 9.  Again, this was really fine by me since I just wanted to leave enough in the tank for the marathon tomorrow, but she was getting really frustrated.

The PR goal started to fall off, but I kept encouraging her that she could still make it if she dug deep and could overcome the pain.  Unfortunately, she really kept slowing and slowing as her right knee started locking up pretty badly.

Mile 11 and we could see EPCOT.  We were moving again, albeit at a slow pace, but we were still moving.  Saw my cousins again at mile 12, and then I pushed my wife to finish the last mile.  “This is just like running from Crescent Avenue to home,” I’d say.  “We do this every day at home.”  “You can make it now. babe!”

A few short 10 and 20-second walk stops in the final mile, but we cruised in to the finish at 2:26:16.  Way off her PR, but pretty much on my target pace.  We crossed hand-in-hand, which was a fun experience for me.  Usually when we run races together, I’m so much faster that at some point she tells me to just go on, and I do if it’s a shorter race.  This time, going slower wasn’t a problem.

She stopped at the med tent for a few ice bags for her knees, collected our medals, and saw my cousins one more time.  “You don’t look like you ran a race,” Jeff said to me.  I took that as a really good sign for tomorrow.  I hit the massage tent anyway.

All in all, it was a great race.  The weather was perfect, and if I’d been going for a PR, I think I could have pulled one off again today.  I felt really strong, and I still feel strong right now.  I feel like I ran a 13 mile training run — tired, but not whipped like at the end of a typical half.

Tomorrow will be a different story.  I’m going to run as hard as I can for as long as I can, and then just make it for the final 6-8-10 miles.

As an interesting end to the story, I ran into a guy in line for the bus that was a story straight out of Runners’ World.  This guy was from Orlando, was 71 years old, and running his THIRD Goofy Challenge.  He retired 5 years ago, sat around for a year “when everything went to heck” and then STARTED RUNNING four years ago.  He said he wanted to finish in 6 hours.  Hell, I want to finish in 6 hours tomorrow.  I look at the folks like that, and if he can make it, I can make it.

The scales at the expo told him he had a metabolic age of 12.  I believe it after seeing him.  He was a bit upset that his body fat had increased to 5.1% from 5% this year.  I told him that at 71 it was OK to let his body go “a little.”

Tomorrow is a new race, and a new challenge.  Today went about as well as I could have possibly imagined.  No pain (except for my wife’s knees) and no blisters.

Off for an Italian dinner at the Portobello Yacht Club and early to bed (if I can sleep).

For those of you with Facebook, I’ll try to update my status during the race tomorrow if I start walking a good deal.  Search for Jason Zacher (I’m the one with a post-race photo from ING Georgia Half Marathon) and I’ll temporarily open my page to everyone tomorrow so they can check.

Run long, friends.  I’ll write more when I get back tomorrow!

 Three days left until I run the Goofy Challenge.  Thank you all so much for contributing to Homes for our Troops.  The charity needs the money, our heros need the money, and I’m just along for the ride.

I ran my final 2.5 miles tonight.  Just a quick jaunt on the treadmill at the Life Center (much easier now that they have TVs on all the treadmills).   I went at 6:30 pm to beat the crowds of New-Years-Resolution gym rats.  They’ll be gone in a few weeks, though I was impressed with the number of people in the arena taking the body sculpting class…

Now to the drama.

My wife was supposed to be in court all week and couldn’t get away to join me on the original flight we booked that left tomorrow afternoon.  So, I rescheduled her flight for Friday evening ($150 change fee + $220 in change of fare).  That’s on top of the other $150 change fee (and some ridiculous change in fare) when I changed her flight from Minneapolis after I didn’t run that marathon due to a non-running injury.

So, the ticket was up to about $1,150 now and I called the USAirways customer service center (wherever the heck that is, but the dudes didn’t speak much English) and tried to change her ticket back.  Did I mention that I only changed it to Friday five days ago?

True to form, the first guy I talked to was a complete jerk.  I mean, he works for USAirways, right?  He had one thing (probably from his script in Bangalore) to say: “Sir, the $150 change fee can not be waived because it is in the ticket agreement.”  I think he said those exact words about 7 times.  I pleaded with him to find his soul and  just change the ticket back.  “I’m sorry sir, the $150 change fee can not be waived because it is in the ticket agreement.”

The fourth time I asked to speak with his supervisor, he finally put me on hold.  As he kept asking me questions, I had to do the same thing to him, “I asked to speak with your supervisor and you haven’t transferred me yet.”  “I asked to speak with your supervisor and you haven’t transferred me yet.”

“Sir, I have to see if there is a supervisor available.”

“I don’t want to speak with ANY supervisor, I want to speak with YOUR supervisor.”  This could be part of the problem.

Eventually, after sitting on hold for a seemingly endless amount of time (it was enough for me to get busy on some of the work projects piling up on my desk while I was dealing with this numbnut), his supervisor came on.  I again pleaded with him.  “Look, I’ve already paid about $700 in fare changes and penalties, is there any way for you to reward a loyal frequent flier by just making this change.  I only made the change five days ago.”

“I see that sir, but the $150 change fee is in the agreement you…”

Then I started to lose my cool.  “Then hit the keystroke that changes the fee.  If you’re a supervisor, you should be able to do that.  If not, then I want to speak with YOUR supervisor.”  I figured a few more hours on the phone and I’d be at the CEO.

“Sir, we just can’t get past the $150 change fee.  There is also an increase in the fare with this change you are requesting since we are within 24 hours of your flight.”

More fees.  Might this be on top of the ‘Change Fee,’ the ‘We’re Almost Out of Business Fee’, the ‘The Saudis Really Hate Us Fee’, the ‘Let’s Tack on Another Fee And See If They Notice Fee’, and the ‘Fee To Pay for the Paperwork So We Can Add More Fees’.  I started to become unglued.

“Here’s the deal, buddy.  Either you waive the fee, or I just leave the ticket where it is.  In the second scenario, you made no money for the airline today, but you supremely pissed off a frequent flier.  In the first scenario, you also made no money for the airline, but you made a customer happy.  You know, it’s no wonder USAir has been bankrupt twice in the past five years.  Maybe if you provided some customer service when someone called the customer service number…”

The the power went off and we were disconnected.  That’s too bad.  I was just getting to the good part.

So I called my wife, who was on her 2.5 hour drive back from Aiken.  She talked with another attorney who said if you go to the airport ticket counter, you might get some sympathy.  I didn’t have time, so she went on her way back home.

A fifteen minute conversation with a human being at the airport, and Frances had her changed ticket, back on our original flight.  It only cost $1 for parking.  (In fact, when you call her ticket up now, it says her fare is $0.)  She said the guy behind the ticket counter at GSP was aghast that we had changed the ticket twice already and they wouldn’t just change it back for me.

Chalk one up for an employee with a little compassion and a spine.  Maybe if the airlines (and my cable company) had more of them, people might not be so universally pissed off.  I’ve found that every time I’ve traveled.  When you find the people on the front lines, most of them are genuinely helpful.  It’s when you deal with the people over the phone that they’re idiots.

I blame the death of the neighborhood airline ticket office, where people were paid to make other people happy.  I remember those days.  Morons.

Contrast that with the customer service I received when I had to make two phone calls to Disney a few minutes later.  If I’d asked those people to commit  hara-kiri to make me happy, they might have.   At one point, I said to my wife (loud enough so the Disney woman could hear me), “Disney ought to lease out their customer service people to USAirways.”